Finger info for icculus@icculus.org...

Men of Valor:
Apparently I've been outed: I'm the 'team' working on this for Aspyr.
More on this later.
UnrealEngine3:
One thing I'm learning by fighting with a different project that has nothing
to do with UE3: modern 3D graphic APIs are really friggin intimidating.
I'm really growing to hate both DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.0, which is
unfortunate considering there isn't really any part of UE3's renderer that
doesn't concern itself with DX9-level tech. This makes me grumpy. I feel like
the Unix equivalent of those two old dudes in the balcony on the Muppet Show.
OpenAL:
(If you want the Apple/VoIP patch source code, it's on the mailing list, but
not in CVS as far as I know. Check the openal-devel list archives at
openal.org.)
Duke3D:
If you have a new disc from 3DRealms (the disc has info about Duke Nukem
Forever on it), and the installer doesn't work with it, use this build:
http://0day.icculus.org/duke3d/duke3d-macosx-12092004.dmg.bz2
...the new print run from 3drealms made some minor disc layout
changes. The above installer has some hacks to deal with this this disc
revision. If you've got a working installation, upgrading is optional.
This installer now works with every known Duke3D Atomic Edition disc.
Some FAQs on the MacOS X version are here:
http://icculus.org/cgi-bin/finger/finger.pl?user=icculus&date=2004-11-29
Notes on Duke in D.C. and TCP/IP are here:
http://icculus.org/cgi-bin/finger/finger.pl?user=icculus&date=2004-12-06
UTPG:
Apparently the driver bugfix got rolled into Software Update for OSX 10.3.6.
Have you hugged an Apple engineer today?
Unreal Tournament 2003:
There's an exploit in the ut2003 network code, so here's a new build.
Linux: http://0day.icculus.org/ut2003/ut2003lnx_patch2225-3-BETA.tar.bz2
MacOSX: http://0day.icculus.org/ut2003/ut2003-mac-patch-2225-3.dmg.bz2
The Linux one has about a million changes over the stock 2225, since it's got
all the MacOSX work on top of it. Consider it beta. The Mac version has one
or two fixes, so it's worth updating.
Unreal Tournament 2004:
Mac version 3339: http://0day.icculus.org/ut2004/ut2004-macpatch3339.dmg.bz2
This one is big (90 megs instead of 15), because it installs the ECE Bonus
Pack. It is safe to use this even if you previously installed the ECE-BP,
but there are some 3339 things that need to override the scripts shipped
with the bonus pack, so this was easier than trying get everyone to install
everything in the right order.
Linux version 3339: http://0day.icculus.org/ut2004/ut2004-lnxpatch3339.tar.bz2
Please install the Editors' Choice bonus pack FIRST, and then 3339.
Bonus pack is here: http://0day.icculus.org/ut2004/ut2004-ECEBonusPack.tar.bz2
So this goes:
1) Install game (or take an existing installation at any version)
2) Unpack ECEBonusPack and copy into game installation.
3) Unpack 3339 and copy into game installation.
If you're using an Editors' Choice Edition disc (the box is reddish),
then skip straight to step #3...the bonus pack is part of the default
installation on those discs.
MOHPA:
echo -en "\nObstacles to overcome before release: " ; make 2>&1 |
grep "undefined reference " |
perl -w -p -e 's/.*undefined reference to \`(.*)./$1/;' |
sort |uniq |wc -l
Obstacles to overcome before release: 35
Call of Duty:
(new COD and CODUO patches are coming...any minute now...)
Original COD Linux admins should currently be using:
http://icculus.org/betas/cod/COD-lnxded-1.4-07252004.tar.bz2
COD:UO Linux admins should currently be using:
http://0day.icculus.org/cod/coduo-lnxded-1.41e.tar.bz2
Postal 2 Share the Pain:
Download the free demo for MacOSX:
http://icculus.org/news/news.php?id=2272
Buy the full game for MacOSX:
http://www.gopostal.com/store/index.php
America's Army:
ArmyOps 2.2.1 for Linux is now shipping!
http://icculus.org/news/news.php?id=2273
Other stuff:
Boy, did I cause a ruckus with this whole GameSpy thing. The venom that is
spilling across various Mac gamer forums is fairly impressive. I wanted to
cover a few points.
- You can't just rip GameSpy out. Several people have written me saying
that they have alternate solutions (some open source, etc) that provide
the same functionality as GameSpy. This doesn't change the fact that
the Windows game clients still "speak" GameSpy, so having an alternative
isn't sufficient unless the PC side of things supports it, too.
- Having a tech replacement is only half the battle. You also need to run
master servers.
- Most third party browsers are just using the GameSpy protocol. "Just
ship Forward Observer X with ArmyOps" isn't a viable option.
- Most games only use GameSpy for the server browser. Once you find your
favorite game server in the list, the game doesn't use GameSpy anymore...
in the ArmyOps case, it's using Unreal's built-in networking code for
everything from the initial connection to the in-game packets, just not
the server browser.
- Some games use GameSpy for CD key verification. These games are a total
loss without the GameSpy SDK, since even if you can get a server list,
the server either won't know what to do with you, or will boot you for
not providing a "valid" CD key. In these cases, you will _never_ be able
to have Mac-to-PC compatibility. Most games I've worked on don't use
this piece of GameSpy. Men of Valor does, unfortunately.
- Current Mac games that are shipping aren't going to stop working with
GameSpy. This is about licensing for future titles.
- GameSpy's SDK, as long as I've been porting games, has always come in
source code form, and has _always_ compiled on the Mac. I've never had
any GameSpy tech support for the Mac, and have never needed it. It always
Just Worked. As long as it remains in source form, I'll never call them
for help...maybe that's the Linux hacker in me, but I'm a fan of solving
problems myself as long as I'm empowered to do so. Someone pointed out
that in terms of added network load, tech support and development, the
biggest resource GameSpy needs to expend on the Mac is however much
gasoline it takes to drive to the bank to cash the check.
- This is literally the only showstopper in ArmyOps 2.2.1 for the
Mac. If I had a GameSpy license, I could recompile the game and ship it.
As it stands, there isn't a clear or simple solution to this problem in
the 2.2.1 timeframe.
- The short term solutions are not pleasant. The best case scenario is that
we all find reasonable price points with GameSpy and ship our titles...
More realistically, we'll surrender network compatibility on some titles,
and wedge in some half-assed solutions, which are better than nothing.
- The longer term solutions involve an act of subversion. Namely, someone
needs to step up: develop and market a product that replaces GameSpy.
It's not a secret that GameSpy's SDK doesn't have any real competition
at the moment. It's also not a secret that most PC developers would shed
no tears for GameSpy if a better alternative came along. I will be daring
and say a small, modestly-funded team could pull this off, and if they hit
the right PC developers, could gain critical mass with a quickness. The
obvious choices for this, if we're being Mac-centric, are either Aspyr or
Destineer. I would suggest this might be best done by an independent
company that has no sort of Apple affliation as their primary interest...
you don't have to like the fact that PC developers have an irrational
fear of Mac-oriented companies...and I don't want to have this fight about
Linux clients five years from now. Getting a good Triple-A title on the
PC to ship with this, Mac port or not, makes this much more intriguing to
everyone else, though. After all, there're plenty of reasons to ditch
GameSpy on the PC, too; this Mac episode just illustrates it...they could
always inflate their prices universally. Smart developers will take notice
now when it's still someone else's problem...because tomorrow, it could be
their's, too.
- I know I sound like I'm attacking GameSpy here, but I'm just being
practical...I'm a Mac developer with two projects in the pipeline that are
screwed at the moment. If I get a call tomorrow telling me the SDK is
reasonably priced again and the check has cleared, I'll delete this whole
rant and sing GameSpy's praises from the mountain tops.
--ryan.

When this .plan was written: 2004-12-14 17:22:36
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